Dylan Field live at Config: Intuition, simplicity, and the future of design

Introduction (0s)

• Dylan Field's conversation with Anie is recorded live at Figma Config in front of a live audience.
• This is the first-ever live recording of the podcast.
• The conversation delves into Dylan's product taste, intuition, the future of product management, and Figma's simplicity.
• Dylan shares stories from Figma's early days and his favorite AI tool, Web Sim.
• A clip of a young Dylan Field acting is shown at the end of the podcast.

Welcoming Dylan Field (1m11s)

• Dylan thanks Anie for inviting him to the podcast and expresses his excitement about the live format.
• He acknowledges the impressive setup of the live studio and jokes about the possibility of hidden wires and people behind the curtain.
• Anie asks Dylan about his well-being after two days of Config and any surprises or highlights from the event.
• Dylan praises the Config community and feels lucky to be a part of it.
• He mentions feeling exhausted but energized by caffeine and a probiotic drink.

Highlights and surprises from Config (2m36s)

• Dylan Field was pleased with the Config conference overall.
• He was particularly impressed with the demos and presentations by Emil and Mika.
• He is excited about the conversation that is starting around AI and its impact on design.

The philosophy of design (6m58s)

• Dylan Field believes that design is art applied to problem-solving.
• He acknowledges that there are many definitions of design, but he prefers this one because it captures the creative and problem-solving aspects of design.
• He believes that design should not be purely artistic, but should also be functional and solve a user need.

Raccoon feet and muffin hands (8m1s)

• Figma had a tradition of asking employees during lunch conversations: "Would you rather have raccoons for feet or muffins for hands?"
• The question is meant to be philosophical and thought-provoking, with no right or wrong answer.
• The speaker ponders the practical implications of having raccoons for feet or muffins for hands, such as typing with muffin hands or the raccoons' unpredictable movements.
• The speaker also considers the potential upsides, like eating the muffins if they regenerate.

Building and refining intuition and product taste (9m57s)

• Rick Rubin, a music producer, describes his role as someone who can identify what he likes and dislikes in music, despite not having technical abilities or knowledge.
• The speaker compares this to his own strength in intuition and product taste when it comes to designing Figma.
• The speaker explains his framework for building intuition: constantly generating hypotheses, debating them, finding data to support or negate them, and narrowing down to a working hypothesis.
• The speaker mentions that he reads every tweet about Figma and shares them with colleagues, as part of his process of constantly ingesting information about the product.
• He also emphasizes the importance of asking questions and trying to understand the root problems that users are trying to solve.

How to influence leadership (12m50s)

• Dylan Field discusses how he approaches changing his mind based on feedback.
• He mentions an example of initially being skeptical about implementing Pages in Figma but eventually agreeing due to user demand.
• Field emphasizes the importance of building trust with team members and being open to trying new ideas.
• Dylan Field shares his strategies for influencing leadership and changing their minds.
• He highlights the effectiveness of presenting concrete artifacts and examples when making a case.
• Field stresses the value of asking detailed questions to fully understand a proposal.
• He mentions the importance of seeking answers to unanswered questions before making a decision.
• Field emphasizes the significance of understanding something from first principles and taking a perfectionist approach to decision-making.

The role of product managers (16m14s)

• PMs are crucial in bringing together designers, engineers, and researchers to create great products.
• Good PMs avoid treating their role solely as a process and instead focus on solving problems, having a strategy, and bringing everyone together to achieve a shared goal.
• PMs act as the glue that holds teams together and ensures that projects stay on track and meet objectives.
• Intuition is a key ingredient in design, allowing designers to make quick decisions and come up with creative solutions.
• Simplicity is essential for creating user-friendly and effective designs.
• The future of design lies in combining intuition and simplicity to create products that are both beautiful and functional.

The future of product management (21m12s)

• The future of product management involves everyone learning to do a bit more of everyone else's job.
• There's still immense value in product management, design, and engineering, so these roles will continue to exist.
• The best product managers create frameworks that bring everyone else along and have a point of view and strategy associated with them.
• They take the strategy and point of view, wrap it all up in a framework, and make it so that everyone knows the destination and how to get there.

The importance of simplicity in design (22m20s)

• Simplicity is crucial in design as it prevents products from becoming overly complex and incomprehensible.
• Adding more features doesn't always equate to a better product; it can lead to diminishing returns and increased complexity.
• Figma strives to enhance its capabilities without compromising simplicity, which requires constant attention and monitoring.
• Complexity can arise even when individual decisions are sound, necessitating a holistic review of systems.
• Lenny Rachitsky, the host, mentions that Figma's recent redesign was likely driven by increasing complexity.
• Dylan Field agrees and acknowledges that simplifying certain aspects of the old Figma was a priority.
• Figma constantly battles against the tendency for products to become more complicated over time.
• Dylan emphasizes that everyone involved in the design process is responsible for maintaining simplicity.
• A guiding principle is to keep simple things simple and make complex things possible.

The long road to Figma’s launch (26m10s)

• Figma took three and a half years to launch and five years to get its first paid customers.
• The company faced challenges in hiring and recruiting, which slowed down the product development process.
• Figma's director of engineering played a crucial role in catalyzing the product's shipment.

Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs (27m44s)

• Ship products quickly to get feedback and iterate faster.
• Figma and FigJam are examples of products that were shipped quickly and benefited from user feedback.
• Don't be discouraged by the simplicity of a product; it may have taken a long time to develop.

Knowing when it’s time to ship (29m7s)

• Consider the trade-offs between quality, features, and deadline when deciding when to ship a product.
• Software can be iteratively improved over time, so it's not necessary to have all features and perfect quality at launch.
• Determine the minimum awesome product (MAP) that meets a certain quality bar and push it out, then continue to improve it iteratively.

Early user acquisition strategies (30m39s)

• Dylan Field used a script to identify influential designers on Twitter and reached out to them to introduce Figma and gather feedback.
• Designers, such as Pabi, provided valuable feedback, including a comprehensive document outlining desired improvements.
• Dylan Field personally assisted early customers like Koda, even driving back to their office to resolve technical issues.
• Shashir, a mentor to Dylan Field and the Figma team, was the first customer of Figma and the first to use it as a team.

Spotting trends and future innovations (35m50s)

• Dylan Field is known for spotting trends ahead of others.
• He was early on WebGL, which allowed Figma to exist.
• He tweeted about Crypto punks before they became valuable.
• He is currently excited about WebSim, a hallucinatory internet that allows users to build their own universes.
• WebSim uses models like CLA or GPT-40 to generate content.
• The more you use WebSim, the more you construct a context window of the universe you're building.
• Dylan describes WebSim as a "Lean Forward entertainment Tool" using the internet.
• He tried WebSim and generated an invented Gmail inbox that looked accurate.
• WebSim works by typing a URL or prompt in the URL field, and it will invent what that website would look like.

Reflections on leadership and growth (39m20s)

• Dylan Field reflects on his journey from intern to leading a thousand-person company.
• He emphasizes the importance of constant adaptation, growth, and change.
• Mentorship can come from various sources, including the community, employees, investors, and even those he mentors.
• Dylan mentions how interns and new founders have taught him valuable lessons.
• He expresses gratitude and feels humbled by the Figma community and the opportunity to serve and improve their lives.
• Dylan acknowledges the responsibility to make Figma more simple, powerful, and responsible.
• He highlights the goal of advancing the state of the craft and championing design and quality.
• Dylan appreciates the patience and support of the community as they strive to make an impact.

Lightning round (43m16s)

• Dylan is excited about the future of computing and the incredible technology and products that can be built.
• He encourages everyone to build cool stuff and share it with him.
• His preferred methods of contact are email, Twitter, and Slack.
• Dylan finds it fascinating to explore different LMS platforms and discover their unique strengths.
• He enjoys experimenting with them to unlock their full potential.
• Dylan doesn't have a specific life motto, but he appreciates the advice that "when people give you advice, they're not giving you advice, they're giving themselves advice in your shoes."
• Dylan was a child actor at the age of 5 and a half.
• He acknowledges that his differentiators at that time, such as reading, sitting still, and cuteness, became less relevant as he hit puberty.
• He ultimately decided to pursue computer science.
• A vintage commercial for ET toys is played.
• Dylan comments that the commercial led to the company's bankruptcy.